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Doctor Who: The 8th Doctor #1

“I’M THE DOCTOR, AND I’D VERY MUCH LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING IN MY HOUSE…” Get ready for an all-new season of comics adventures featuring the Eighth Doctor, as played by Paul McGann!

Five amazing, interconnected new stories take the Doctor on a rollercoaster of threat and misadventure, as he investigates the mysteries surrounding his new companion Josie. Victorian magic shows, murderous trees, lost books, crystalline life-forms, barges in space crammed with the undead… and the grand journey all begins in a sleepy Welsh town… besieged by living paintings!

When talking about the different incarnations of the Doctor, the eighth is easily the most Byronesque. A gloomy and occasionally gothic romantic, who scoops his companions up and takes them on trips through time and space in his baroque Tardis, he’s also one of my favorites thanks to the Big Finish audio series.

So in his new comic series, the first since the Radio Times’ comic strips back in the day, I’m proud to say that the debut issue lives up to my expectations. As a romantic, what better villain to open the series than monsters that come from the unconscious of an artist?

Now killer painting monsters don’t sound too great and to be honest they aren’t. They’re here to give our new protagonist Josie a change to prove her mettle in the Doctor’s world and to set up the miniseries main question, what is it about Josie that means she is swarming in Animae particles* and why she knows about all the monsters of the Doctor’s world.

I’m curious as to what will happen, as whilst Josie seems to have more about her than recent companions of the TV show, I am wary of her becoming a plot point instead of a fully fleshed person. Having said that though, I do agree on one thing – she seems to be a good match for the Doctor of this series. Being as enthused about life as he is means the two spark off one another nicely.

The art itself is a little different, almost feeling anime inspired itself at times, though they do manage to capture the…shall we say dreamy?…look of the Eighth Doctor, which on a very shallow level entertained me. The layouts seemed a bit odd to, with some of the speech bubble layouts being counter intuitive to how western audiences read text.

Still, as a first of a mini series, and despite my reservations, I’m willing to give it a shot. It shows a lot of promise and I’m always happy to spend more time in the world of the Eighth Doctor. There is no instinct like that of the heart!